Former standout Rutgers pitcher Casey Gaynor is in his fifth season as the pitching coach for the Scarlet Knights in 2017. Gaynor was hired by former head coach Fred Hill on Oct. 8, 2012.
Active on the recruiting trail, Gaynor has helped sign some of the top pitchers in the state and the region.
In 2016, Gaynor mentored senior ace Howie Brey to All-Big Ten honors after the left-hander worked 100.1 innings with four complete games. Brey worked to a 3.50 ERA with 84 strikeouts, a total that ranks third-most in a season in school history. Following the year, Brey was picked in the 31st round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros.
Gaynor was part of the staff in 2015 that helped the Scarlet Knights transition to the Big Ten Conference. The team won three league series, including taking the weekend over No. 13 Iowa at Bainton Field. Brey threw a complete game to collect the series-opening victory over the Hawkeyes. After the season, junior Mark McCoy was selected in the 29th round of the MLB Draft by the Kansas City Royals.
In 2014, Gaynor was tasked with reworking a staff that graduated 100 percent of the weekend starting innings. He was able to successfully mold the unit to pitch to a 3.41 ERA in conference play, with a freshman pitcher starting 41 games overall. Only one start was made by an upperclassman all season, as freshmen pitchers accounted for 69 percent of the team's innings pitched.
Several hurlers earned accolades following the season, including Brey picking up all-conference and Gaby Rosa recording American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year. Rosa also went on to register Freshman All-America status. In addition, five RU pitchers earned all-state, including Division I Fireman of the Year Max Herrmann. A Rutgers pitcher collected a weekly honor from the conference office in eight of the 14 weeks of the season.
In his first season on staff, Gaynor had three seniors sign professional contracts - Rob Smorol (Boston Red Sox), Charlie Law (Rockland Boulders) and Nathaniel Roe (Rockland Boulders). The staff allowed a combined two runs to College World Series participant Louisville and USF in games at the Big East Tournament to reach the semifinals of the event.
The Toms River, N.J., native, who graduated in 2010, spent two years playing baseball professionally. After proving highly successful on the mound for Rutgers, the Cleveland Indians signed the right-hander.
Gaynor spent one season with the Indians' Class A affiliate Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the New York Penn League. With the Scrappers, he compiled a 4.04 ERA with a 5-2 record, appearing in 16 games and starting in five. Following his year with the Indians organization, Gaynor spent the summer of 2011 pitching for the Newark Bears in an independent baseball league. There, he started 13 games and compiled a 5-4 record.
Following his stay in professional baseball, Gaynor stayed involved by teaching the game by offering his knowledge and guidance to pitchers at camps and clinics.
The Toms River East High School graduate ('06) was one of the best and most reliable pitchers to take the rubber for the Scarlet Knights. Gaynor covers the baseball record books, ranking first all-time at Rutgers in starts (52) and innings (317.0). He also ranks second in career strikeouts, punching out 227 hitters in four seasons.
As a senior in 2010, Gaynor tallied eight wins to tie him for sixth all-time on the Rutgers single-season list. That year, he helped lead the Scarlet Knights to a 30-26 record, which placed sixth in the Big East. Rutgers reached the semifinals of the conference tournament that year. Gaynor was a member of the squad that gave Hill his 1,000th career victory that season.
In the same year, Gaynor pitched 97.1 innings, fifth on the all-time list, while starting 15 games, third all-time at Rutgers. Gaynor was also a Cape Cod All-Star in 2009 when he played for the Orleans Firebirds in a summer baseball league.
His baseball success dates back to Little League. As an 11-year-old, Gaynor played with former Rutgers teammate Todd Frazier, who is now a member of the Cincinnati Reds, on the Toms River East America All-Star team that captured the World Championship at the Little League World Series in 1998.
Baseball runs in his family as well, as his brother Colin played for the Scarlet Knights baseball team from 2003-05.
Gaynor, who still resides in Toms River, N.J., graduated from Rutgers with a major in history and a minor in psychology. He is married to former Rutgers soccer captain Gina DeMaio, who recorded 29 assists, 13 goals and earned multiple All-Big East honors over a school-record 92 matches.
